My True Testimony

My name is Charlie and I used to be an orphan. I was born with hemiparesis on my left side and have a history of seizures. When I had my seizures, I lost control of the left side of my body and sometimes I would stumble and hurt myself. 

When I was still an orphan, I tried to hide my disabilities because I was afraid I would be judged by others because I was not perfect. I also became jealous of others around me because I thought they were perfect. When people bullied me, I wanted to retaliate but I was afraid because I was weak. Serving others was something I resented doing because I wanted to be the one in control.

John 14:18 says that God will not leave us like orphans and will come to us. Isaiah 55:11 says that God will accomplish what He intended. An example of how God fulfilled His words is by gifting me with a family and by introducing me to the Holy Spirit through my adoptive family.

During the last few weeks I was in China, I was able to meet my irreplaceable parents and a few of my new siblings.  We were able to make memories throughout the process of my adoption, I finally got to know how it felt to have a forever family.

When I arrived in America at the age of ten, I had to learn a new language and new traditions. I also started learning about God. I was surrounded with very good people and they showed me who God was, not just by words, but also through actions.

I had a surgery in China that loosened my muscles. After I had settled into my new home, my parents told me that the doctor’s could perform surgery on me to attempt to get rid of my seizures; but there was a risk. I could be paralyzed on my left side and could even lose my vision. I had multiple brain surgeries. During one procedure to place EEG leads directly into my brain to map the activity. After the surgery, my parents realized that there was something wrong and the surgeons had to take me into emergency surgery due to bleeding in my brain. Once I recovered, the surgeons used that information to go in and take out a large portion of my right parietal lobe. While the surgeons hoped that this would stop my seizures, they still continued and several months later I had to have another surgery to remove more of my parietal lobe. While my seizures have not gone away completely, they are significantly reduced and allow me to have a pretty normal life. During my multiple admission to the hospital I was shown God’s love through all kinds of people.

I was immersed on January 28, 2018. The day I gave my life to the Lord. I was ready to face whatever challenges that came my way because I knew that God would protect me and give me the strength I needed to walk with Him.

After I gave my life to God, I knew that my selfishness would lead to no personal gain. I still struggled with worry, doubt, and temptations. When I struggled with something, I would talk to God through prayer.

I was not sure what I wanted to do with my life for God, but I knew that every one of us had a purpose on this earth. So I asked God to provide me some direction.  During the pandemic, I hosted an Instagram Live with my friend and we discussed Bible verses and did song breakdowns. After our quarantine, I helped with leading our youth group and got to share my faith. Through all of it, I was nervous, but God gave me the courage to share my faith. Looking back on all the situations that God had allowed me to go through, I realized that He wanted me to minister to others and share my experiences with them. I’m currently sharing my faith through blogging.